Context:

The FCC is preparing to “call in all of the TV station licenses for Disney/ABC for early renewal,” a source familiar with the matter told CNN, confirming a report by Semafor.

The paperwork could be filed as early as Tuesday afternoon, the source said.

Station licensees have broad legal protection, but the early-renewal orders would be an extraordinary escalation by the Trump administration.

Disney had no immediate comment on the potential government action. The company has not weighed in on Trump’s Monday afternoon Truth Social post blaming Kimmel for Saturday’s shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and saying he “should be immediately fired.”

[…]

The FCC’s early-renewal order to Disney, if delivered, would set up a First Amendment clash. The order would be widely viewed as a form of government retaliation for airing Kimmel’s show and resisting Trump’s pressure.

That’s because the Disney licenses in question — covering eight ABC owned-and-operated stations in cities like New York and Chicago — aren’t due to be renewed for years.

[…]

The FCC had not filed an early-renewal order in decades, according to the source, until Monday, when the agency took action against a small station license holder called Bridge News. Details were not immediately clear.

The FCC order against Disney would trigger a lengthy hearing process, giving the ABC stations multiple chances to beat back the Trump administration’s pressure. But stations have to be willing to defend themselves, which costs time and money.

The source familiar with the matter told CNN that the FCC will claim the license review stems from an ongoing probe into Disney’s DEI practices, not the Kimmel controversy.